Love in Action

I have the opportunity right now to watch a good friend of mine walk through the process of adopting their second daughter from China.  While I have not walked through an adoption myself, God has been whispering in my ear many truths about His love for me as I observe this beautiful process.

I have followed their travels via Facebook  and have checked it many times longing  for any pictures or updates.  I think it should actually be considered Facebook stalking  at this point.  Every picture and post has offered a glimpse into their journey.  I wanted to experience their excitement and wonder as they arrived in China.  I was just waiting for the day they would finally have the opportunity to hold this precious child in their arms. 


The question that churned in my mind was, "How will this tiny one's heart do after the official adoption day?"  Their new daughter has only known the familiar loving faces at her foster home.  She has been loved and well taken care of,  however she lacked one big thing;  A Family. 

A family to belong to. 

I can only imagine all of the many emotions they experienced on the official adoption day.    I know my friend has prayed for this child for many many months, in fact she has had an army of prayer warriors praying her home.


But my question remained; How do you tell a 2 year old that what she is loosing will be replaced with something so much better.  She will now have a family that will love her forever and will have brothers and sisters.  She will never be abandoned again. 

Eventually she will be won over to this family by their strong love for her.  Over time her heart will heal.

As I sat and thought about my friend and the ache in her heart as she watched her new daughter mourn her loss, God began speaking to my heart.  He reinforced to me that this is how He feels when we face things that break our heart.  He takes absolutely no pleasure in our sufferings.  He weeps over our brokenness.  He knows what this world should be, how He created it in the very beginning.

There have been times in my life where God has asked me to relinquish something I have held on to dearly so He could  give me something far better.  I think about those times and how I have sobbed  telling Him how much it hurt to give something up.  I did not understand at the time but He truly did understand. 

I know my friend who is in China right now has a huge heart for orphans and wants to bind up their wounds and find them all loving homes.  I know that her heart is breaking as she watches her daughter grieve.

When we encounter things that bring sorrow or loss to our lives, God's  heart breaks too.  However, just like my friend cannot explain all that is going on to her daughter, God chooses at times not explain everything to us.  He asks us to trust Him.  Trust that everything He does will be for our good.  Trust that He loves us more than we could ever imagine. 

I imagine the first couple of days my friend's daughter may actually push herself away from them.  She will not understand that they are there to offer her a life of love and protection.  She does not understand as of yet  how much they have gone through to get to her.  How much they have prayed over her and how they have longed to be close to her. 

There are times that I push God away as the only emotion I am feeling is pain.   I don't understand what is going on in the background.  I don't take into account how much it cost Him to come and rescue me.  It cost Him the life of His Son.  Many times I overlook this fact.  I take it for granted. 

  I don't see how much He has cheered me on. At times I can miss the messages of love and encouragement that He has sent me through His word or  others.  I am so thankful for this opportunity to slow down and watch my friend walk through this journey called adoption, truly  demonstrating God's love in action.

I am grateful to God that He is opening up my eyes to His wonderful grace and love that surrounds me.